Dove: {Self-Confidence, Insecurities & My #BeautyStory}

Beauty habits and advice are often passed down from generation to generation.Growing up as a child, my mother always taught me to have self-confidence. I looked up to my mother because she was always so positive about herself. She never showed me any signs of insecurities growing up. She was such a strong and inspirational woman. There were times growing up when I struggled with the color of my skin being darker and how I believed that having a brighter complexion skin tone was prettier. But my mother would tell me how beautiful I was regardless of the color of my skin and explain to me that color doesn’t define your beauty and that beauty starts within. I think as women we often beat ourselves up about any and every little thing. We are our own worst critics.

Fast forward to the present and now as a mother of a young girl who also struggles with her own insecurities, I constantly remind my daughter of how beautiful she is and that the texture of her hair doesn’t determine her beauty. She seems to think that because her hair is thicker and it’s not as silky, that means she isn’t beautiful.

My Mom & I

As I mentioned before beauty comes from within. It’s not about the color of your skin, texture of your hair or anything else for that matter; it’s about what’s inside and building a deeper confidence within yourself. A Dove survey finds that most women (84% in fact) trust the women in their lives more than celebrities for beauty tips and advice. I’m so grateful for the positive people I’m surrounded by as in my grandmother, mother, aunts and cousins that have inspired me and help mold me into the woman that I am today.

Dove is committed to building positive self-esteem and inspiring all women and girls to reach their full potential. Self-confidence is a learned behavior and it starts first in the home. Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to find it. Sadly, this can be a vicious circle: people who lack self-confidence can find it difficult to become successful in other aspects of their life.

Daughter (Niyah)

Tips I’m sharing for others to become more confident within themselves:

Try something new. This will take you out of your comfort zone to try something that you haven’t done before. This will allow you to challenge yourself.

Follow through with plans. It’s important that when you make a commitment to do something that you go through with it.

Face a fear. If there is something that you fear build up to moving past it with your confidence of knowing that you can do so.

Surround yourself with positive people. The people in your surroundings can either take you down or uplift you. It’s important to keep positive people around you as much as possible because negative energy can rub off and affect you along the way.

Be good to yourself. Recognizing your strengths and develop them which will in return improve your skills but also your confidence in your own abilities.